Following a fantastic four

Sunday

Mar 22, 2009 at 12:01 AM

National signing day was last month, but college football recruiting has become a year-round process. The Class of 2010 in the Jacksonville area is one of the best in recent years. Although they won't sign for nearly a year, many prospects are well into the decision-making process. Over the next year, the Times-Union will highlight four area players who will be, arguably, the most coveted prospects on the First Coast. Each is at different stage of their recruitment. Every month until signing day, the four players will share their experiences, in their words, with high schools editor Hays Carlyon.

Brent Benedict

School: Bolles.

Position: Offensive tackle.

Offers: About 35.

Accolades: Rivals.com's 40th overall player in the country.

This is an awesome experience. Not many people get to go through this, and I'm very fortunate. I'll be visiting several schools over my spring break. I'm going to Georgia, Clemson, Wake Forest, Duke, North Carolina and Virginia Tech. I'm very interested in seeing what those schools have to offer.

So far, I haven't had any bad experiences with any coaches. No school has a black mark.

The schools I've already gained some familiarity with are Georgia, Georgia Tech, Florida and South Carolina.

There are so many great schools, it'll be hard to make a decision, but once I put the pen to the paper, that will be it.

I moved to Jacksonville from Greenville, S.C., so going to school far away and moving isn't a big deal to me. I'm interested in looking at Michigan, Michigan State and UCLA. I'm not ready to cut down my list yet. I'd like to make a cut to between five and seven schools by the time my senior year starts, so I can focus on winning another state title for Bolles. I've been invited to two All-American games and am planning on announcing my decision on TV.

So far, one of the more special moments was being at Florida and meeting coach Urban Meyer. I thought, wow this is pretty big time. It was pretty cool and exciting.

Also, when I went to Georgia before, we were on the field and they asked if I wanted to meet the water girl. It was Mark Richt's wife, and that was neat. It seemed like there was a real family atmosphere there.

Louis Nix

School: Raines.

Position: Defensive tackle.

Offers: 10 (soft commitment to Miami).

Accolades: Rivals.com's 135th overall player in the country.

The recruiting process can be frustrating, but at the same time, I'm happy about everything.

The highlight so far was committing to Miami. That's the best place for me right now, but who knows what will happen. My family has been supportive. My mom is happy for me, although she's a Gators fan.

The moment that stands out for me was on Sept. 1 last year. That was the first day schools could officially offer a scholarship, and I got seven that first day. I never thought that would happen for me. I was offered by Florida, FSU, Miami, N.C. State, South Carolina, Boston College and Tennessee that day.

Even though I've committed, I still hear from Florida and FSU. I just got an offer from North Carolina and Florida International. Notre Dame and LSU have been messing with me some. I'll probably go to Miami for several days during my spring break. I know I'm going to Florida for their spring game, and I may go to FSU for their junior day. I also want to go to Notre Dame in April.

I'm planning on taking all five of my official visits. I'm not sure Miami will be one of them since I will have already seen them so much. I'm definitely going to visit Florida, FSU and LSU. The other two I still have to debate. I saw where Rivals.com had me as a four-star. I was a little upset when I heard it. When the final list comes out, I'm going to be a five-star.

Ian Silberman

School: Fleming Island.

Position: Offensive tackle.

Offers: About 20 (solid commitment to Florida).

Accolades: Rivals.com's 146th overall player in the country.

It was fun going through the whole recruiting thing. It's exciting, and it feels good to have a home after high school.

I look at it like I'm done. Unless something happens at Florida, I'll be in Gainesville in 2010. I'm as solid as it gets.

It's pretty crazy to think about where I am now. My freshman year, I was thinking about quitting football. My coach talked me into staying. I just wasn't having that much fun.

I still get sent a lot of stuff from other teams. I got an offer from South Florida the other day. I'm really not sure how many offers I have. They just go to the coach's office now. Miami talks to me. Southern Cal and UCLA have been sending me stuff.

The No. 1 thing that other coaches highlight compared to Florida is playing time. Tennessee sends a lot of information about playing time and how I could start as a freshman. The thing is if they want to guarantee me playing time, they've probably told 20 or 30 kids the same thing. Florida is straight up with you. They tell you that you have to earn your playing time. That's what their coaches say, and that's important to me, because I want to earn it.

Coaching stability is also really important to me. Coach Meyer told me Notre Dame was his dream job, but he came to Florida because he wants to win. He knows he'll win if he stays here. That's why he'll stay here.

Casey Turner

School: White.

Position: Running back.

Offers: Three.

Accolades: Times-Union's 2008 offensive player of the year.

It's been exciting, but slower than I would like it to be. I'm getting a lot of letters, but not a lot of offers. I'd like to see my offer list get bigger.

I'd love to get an offer from Florida, Miami, FSU, Notre Dame and USC. Florida has sent its coach that recruits Jacksonville (quarterbacks coach Scott Loeffler) to see me. FSU wrote me, but I haven't heard much from them. Notre Dame sent me some basic info. I haven't heard anything from Miami. That was my favorite school growing up.

Right now, I have offers from Illinois, Arkansas and Florida International. Indiana seems the closest to offering me next.

When I got my first offer from Illinois, it was an amazing feeling. It definitely gives them an advantage.

I really like the Gators, but I'm not sure if they'll offer me. I went to their junior day and did get to speak with Coach Meyer. He's a cool person and really laid back. I got a picture with him and that was cool.

The thing I really liked about Florida is the first thing they talked to us about at the junior day was their graduation rate. It seems like a lot of teams don't care if it is good or not, but they did. When I got there, I figured all we would talk about was football with them being the national champs. When they started by talking about education, it impressed me because I thought they must really care about education and not just winning football games. They care about their players outside of football.

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